Ben Knight Posted October 13, 2005 Share Posted October 13, 2005 Here you go, folks! http://www.sportsnet.ca/soccer/columnist.jsp?content=20051013_122528_5660 Let's debate! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juaninho Posted October 13, 2005 Share Posted October 13, 2005 quote:Originally posted by Ben Knight Here you go, folks! http://www.sportsnet.ca/soccer/columnist.jsp?content=20051013_122528_5660 Let's debate! I cannot, the link doesn't want to work on my comp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elias Posted October 13, 2005 Share Posted October 13, 2005 I agree about the Blizzard name, no track, and most important, they must win. I don't know about Yallop. quote:Originally posted by Ben Knight 4) Market this team directly to young players and their families: On any given day, Toronto is the single most multi-cultural town in all of human history. Ancient Rome? No. New York City? Forget about it! Toronto is filled with soccer fans, but almost all have long-standing old-country allegiances, and cannot be counted on to embrace the Blizzard. But thousands of kids play this game. And their parents have money to spend. Keep the prices reasonable, and target your advertising at the Soccer Mom sect. Old-country fans will wander in from time to time, but they're ultimately a bonus. That's what the Lynx do. They have to aim at 20 and 30-somethings like the Rock do. They are the ones who will come out, drag friends/relatives along, spend money, and make noise. quote:Originally posted by Ben Knight 5) Develop a strong youth system: Put Toronto Blizzard rep teams in every competitive youth league for fifty miles around. Build a classy, successful organization. Hire the best coaches. Make the Blizzard name really mean something. Also, buy a team in the USL's Professional Development League. Give the very best Southern Ontario prospects a team to play for, just before they're old enough to turn pro. It doesn't work like that in North America. All the other clubs will be ready to revolt. And if they attract all the best players, who will they play against? And aren't there geographic-resident rules or something about where players can play? I think it would be better if they supported the youth system as a whole and helped organize things better and made it more clear at which level each team/club was at. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ed Posted October 13, 2005 Share Posted October 13, 2005 I agree with Elias. The Calgary Storm were vilified in local amateur soccer for exactly what you are proposing in terms of participating in competitive youth leagues. You don't want to upset the many suits in local amateur soccer scenes who have spent lifetimes building their little fiefdoms. "Stealing" players from local org. A to feed the Blizzard U14 elite team will not go down well Ben. You have to find a model where the young players can 'aspire' to the Blizzards, without competing with the existing youth orgs. And, not to beat a dead horse or anything, but I can only wish our CONCACAF rivals enjoy similar success to that we've had with our 'special coach'. Good to see you finding some Cdn content to write about Ben! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gian-Luca Posted October 13, 2005 Share Posted October 13, 2005 quote:Originally posted by Elias That's what the Lynx do. Yeah, but that's all they do. And not very well, or very successfully either IMO. I'm sure the MLSE will target all available markets, not just measely go after one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john tv Posted October 13, 2005 Share Posted October 13, 2005 Miss Nightingale here we go again,youth etc.What we need exsclusively is the total involvement of the media.The media has to shed their fear of soccer or any other animalistic feelings they may have about this European game.They must embrace and they must realize that the world has changed. They must realize that soccer is by far the healthiest sport and they must realize that old resentments are just that.They know that there is a tremnedous interest in soccer and they must acknowledge that.They must include soccer in all the sportschannels talk shows, they must attend all games and they must without fail write about upcoming games and they must write the other teams and they must without fail do a special write up the day before the game.They must make sure that the important media guys are at the media conferences and they must nmake sure that they are at the game. They must write or via the electronic media do specials on our upcoming youth and they must be totally involved with the upcoming u-20 tournament.In other words they must make a total commitement to soccer. If they don't good bye soccer again and you know what, this probably will happen, they just don't want us, I don't know what to call this but again take your pick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon Posted October 13, 2005 Share Posted October 13, 2005 quote:Originally posted by Ed And, not to beat a dead horse or anything, but I can only wish our CONCACAF rivals enjoy similar success to that we've had with our 'special coach'. Good to see you finding some Cdn content to write about Ben! When I read the "Yallop to Gallop" column of that initial link I just about gagged. I have to say that while I generally like Yallop, and hope he sticks around, I didn't think anyone could realistically deny that Yallop F/U big time in WCQ. Apparently I was wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeanKeay Posted October 14, 2005 Share Posted October 14, 2005 Hey Ben, Wondering if I could ask you a question via email. You can email me @ seannykeay@hotmail.com Its nothing really serious, its just some help/advise on a project I am working on for school Any kind of response would be excellent. Thanks Sean Keay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john tv Posted October 14, 2005 Share Posted October 14, 2005 quote:Originally posted by Ben Knight Here you go, folks! http://www.sportsnet.ca/soccer/columnist.jsp?content=20051013_122528_5660 Let's debate! Hey you jerk you know nothing about soccer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L.T. Posted October 14, 2005 Share Posted October 14, 2005 Hey YOU jerk you...that's it, you're just a jerk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Hombre Posted October 14, 2005 Share Posted October 14, 2005 quote:Originally posted by john tv Hey you jerk you know nothing about soccer. So, umm, all 132 posts you've ever made has had something to do with the Canadian media not covering soccer and now when a columnist talks in favour of the possibilities of MLS, you call him a no-nothing jerk? Ich bin very confused. Interesting read, Ben. Not sure about the marketing strategy either. I think if MLSE actually spends the time and money to develop a strategy they'll do alright (which I don't see any reason they wouldn't). Appreciate the CanCon though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Hombre Posted October 14, 2005 Share Posted October 14, 2005 quote:Originally posted by john tv Hey you jerk you know nothing about soccer. So, umm, all 132 posts you've ever made has had something to do with the Canadian media not covering soccer and now when a columnist talks in favour of the possibilities of MLS, you call him a no-nothing jerk? Ich bin very confused. Interesting read, Ben. Not sure about the marketing strategy either. I think if MLSE actually spends the time and money to develop a strategy they'll do alright (which I don't see any reason they wouldn't). Appreciate the CanCon though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Knight Posted October 14, 2005 Author Share Posted October 14, 2005 I wrote this in early 2002. Here's your "media conspiracy." Breaking the silence Okay, I admit it. There is a media conspiracy against soccer in this country. (posted Jan. 30, 4:26PM EST) All right. I'm cracking. I've had enough. Enough deception. Enough double talk. I can't take it anymore. Can't keep hiding. Can't keep running away. I'm guilty, you see. It's all true, and I'm as guilty as the next guy. But it's not my fault. I never set out to be part of it. I was just another goofy fan, who happened to have a nice turn of phrase on the Internet. Some friends got me into it. Yeah, that's it. "Write about this," they said. "Write about that." After a year or so, they were pleased. Very pleased. Then they come to me, light in their eyes and grins on pudgy mugs what ain't seen the light of day for decades. "Hey, kid," they says. "We're gonna give you a plum. A real sweet, polished-up plum. How'd ya like to write about... ...soccer." I'd heard of the game, vaguely. Guys kicking a ball. Girls too, even. Apparently, I even played in high school. Starting left fullback for the Jarvis Bulldogs. News to me. I was there, sure, but I thought we was playing some intricate form of tactical dodgeball. So we meet every Thursday in a concrete bunker under the scenic lakeside parking lot that used to be Exhibition Stadium in Toronto. We wear hockey pads, baseball caps, football cleats and basketball shirts, and we talk about how to keep Canadian soccer down. We're all there. TV guys, newspaper guys, disembodied radio voices. (You didn't think radio was real, did you?) Turns out this soccer thing is huge all over the world. It's a clear and present danger to North American sports. We all agree it has to be stopped. So we hatch plans. Big plans. No Canadian soccer leagues, for example. That CSL thing that happened a few years ago was a stern warning to us all. From now on, we shoot 'em down while they're still at the rumour stage. Not only that, we put European soccer on television all the time to make the Canadian game look bad. Put the women on. Let them win! It's trendy, and it makes soccer look as different from mainstream sport as you can imagine. Our little group has twisted, manipulated and pushed things around in ways you can't even imagine. There hasn't been a game involving a first-division Canadian club side televised or covered in any way in almost 20 years! Not only that, we haven't covered a home game featuring the Canadian men's national soccer team since late in 2000! All that time and nobody's cracked. Nobody's broken rank. The wall of silence stands, and it is unassailable! But (and this is the heart-breaking part) it's also unnecessary. The thing I can't stand anymore is that all our secrecy, all our treachery, all our crimes against soccer, have been redundant. All the time we've stood ready to black out first division games, there haven't been any. The two years we've boycotted the men's team at home, they haven't played at home! The latest new league, the CUSL, blew itself away with no help from the media whatsoever. And hey, I know. I tried. I was all over that CUSL thing. But it died because there weren't any strong owners who thought they could make a buck on the thing. We sat there in our bunker, ready to do all kinds of damage, and in the end, we weren't needed. The last straw came a couple of weeks ago. I was sitting in a bar, watching Canada's men get munched 4-0 by the United States on a grainy TV feed from Fort Lauderdale. A guy sidles up to me and says "You know why this game never caught on in Canada?" He looks one way, looks the other, leans in and whispers: "The media." I couldn't take it anymore. Years of terrible futility fell away. For me, forever, the conspiracy had crumbled. So I'm coming out. I'm coming clean. Yeah, there's a conspiracy. But it's hurting, people. It's in bad, bad shape. No matter how hard you try, you can't convince an entire country not to embrace a sport it doesn't feel like embracing in the first place. You can't block coverage of top-flight pro teams when there aren't any. You can't interfere with the public perception of a national team that never plays a home game. So I'm out, and I'm cheering. Go Canada! Let's win the women's World Cup. Let's qualify for the men's. Let's watch with pride as an exciting new generation of Canadian youngsters takes on the planet in the Under-19s. Heck, let's even get a Canadian league going. Okay, okay, that was too much to ask. I'm just over-excited, is all. I only hope you'll forgive me, and that my brave example will inspire other media personages to follow me out of the bunker and into the light. Not that it's going to make the tiniest scrap of difference if they don't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Knight Posted October 14, 2005 Author Share Posted October 14, 2005 I wrote this in early 2002. Here's your "media conspiracy." Breaking the silence Okay, I admit it. There is a media conspiracy against soccer in this country. (posted Jan. 30, 4:26PM EST) All right. I'm cracking. I've had enough. Enough deception. Enough double talk. I can't take it anymore. Can't keep hiding. Can't keep running away. I'm guilty, you see. It's all true, and I'm as guilty as the next guy. But it's not my fault. I never set out to be part of it. I was just another goofy fan, who happened to have a nice turn of phrase on the Internet. Some friends got me into it. Yeah, that's it. "Write about this," they said. "Write about that." After a year or so, they were pleased. Very pleased. Then they come to me, light in their eyes and grins on pudgy mugs what ain't seen the light of day for decades. "Hey, kid," they says. "We're gonna give you a plum. A real sweet, polished-up plum. How'd ya like to write about... ...soccer." I'd heard of the game, vaguely. Guys kicking a ball. Girls too, even. Apparently, I even played in high school. Starting left fullback for the Jarvis Bulldogs. News to me. I was there, sure, but I thought we was playing some intricate form of tactical dodgeball. So we meet every Thursday in a concrete bunker under the scenic lakeside parking lot that used to be Exhibition Stadium in Toronto. We wear hockey pads, baseball caps, football cleats and basketball shirts, and we talk about how to keep Canadian soccer down. We're all there. TV guys, newspaper guys, disembodied radio voices. (You didn't think radio was real, did you?) Turns out this soccer thing is huge all over the world. It's a clear and present danger to North American sports. We all agree it has to be stopped. So we hatch plans. Big plans. No Canadian soccer leagues, for example. That CSL thing that happened a few years ago was a stern warning to us all. From now on, we shoot 'em down while they're still at the rumour stage. Not only that, we put European soccer on television all the time to make the Canadian game look bad. Put the women on. Let them win! It's trendy, and it makes soccer look as different from mainstream sport as you can imagine. Our little group has twisted, manipulated and pushed things around in ways you can't even imagine. There hasn't been a game involving a first-division Canadian club side televised or covered in any way in almost 20 years! Not only that, we haven't covered a home game featuring the Canadian men's national soccer team since late in 2000! All that time and nobody's cracked. Nobody's broken rank. The wall of silence stands, and it is unassailable! But (and this is the heart-breaking part) it's also unnecessary. The thing I can't stand anymore is that all our secrecy, all our treachery, all our crimes against soccer, have been redundant. All the time we've stood ready to black out first division games, there haven't been any. The two years we've boycotted the men's team at home, they haven't played at home! The latest new league, the CUSL, blew itself away with no help from the media whatsoever. And hey, I know. I tried. I was all over that CUSL thing. But it died because there weren't any strong owners who thought they could make a buck on the thing. We sat there in our bunker, ready to do all kinds of damage, and in the end, we weren't needed. The last straw came a couple of weeks ago. I was sitting in a bar, watching Canada's men get munched 4-0 by the United States on a grainy TV feed from Fort Lauderdale. A guy sidles up to me and says "You know why this game never caught on in Canada?" He looks one way, looks the other, leans in and whispers: "The media." I couldn't take it anymore. Years of terrible futility fell away. For me, forever, the conspiracy had crumbled. So I'm coming out. I'm coming clean. Yeah, there's a conspiracy. But it's hurting, people. It's in bad, bad shape. No matter how hard you try, you can't convince an entire country not to embrace a sport it doesn't feel like embracing in the first place. You can't block coverage of top-flight pro teams when there aren't any. You can't interfere with the public perception of a national team that never plays a home game. So I'm out, and I'm cheering. Go Canada! Let's win the women's World Cup. Let's qualify for the men's. Let's watch with pride as an exciting new generation of Canadian youngsters takes on the planet in the Under-19s. Heck, let's even get a Canadian league going. Okay, okay, that was too much to ask. I'm just over-excited, is all. I only hope you'll forgive me, and that my brave example will inspire other media personages to follow me out of the bunker and into the light. Not that it's going to make the tiniest scrap of difference if they don't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheeta Posted October 14, 2005 Share Posted October 14, 2005 Actually going to agree with our Mr. Knight on the youth/development team scheme. If the Blizzard do it right, and by right I mean treating it seriously with some administrative priority and a significant budget the Blizzard can certainly buy the love of the up and comers. Doesn't matter what Little Emperor X,Y or Z says if at the end of the day the Blizzard offer a superior alternative for wee Johnny or Suzie. Got to do it right though. None of this living off your name crap We're the Blizzard. We're in MLS. Ooooh. Join our youth teams. That'll wash out real quick if you can't back up all the mouth. It's a marketing tool, fair enough but it has it's benefits for everyone. Got to do something after all. Mr. Knight seems to be echoing the opinion of a lot of people on this board when it comes to the EURO fans. It's a lost cause converting them to the local product. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Knight Posted October 14, 2005 Author Share Posted October 14, 2005 It's not so much that it's a lost cause, Cheetah. It's just that those fans will decide for themselves if they're interested in the MLS, regardless of how much -- or little -- advertising is thrown their way. Better, I think, to spend the money on the kids. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Beaver Posted October 14, 2005 Share Posted October 14, 2005 Best sports marketing strategy going? Build a winner--perennially competitive--and the fans will come. Why are the Lions enjoying massive support these past couple of years? The organization committed to building a solid, very competitive team--despite the recent string of losses. The Grey Cup has officially sold out: 59,000 plus seats sold. The media, especially local sports media, will always follow a winner. (Mind you, one has to wonder why the Leafs get some much damned attention. [8D] Go, Habs, go.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ed Posted October 14, 2005 Share Posted October 14, 2005 quote:Originally posted by john tv Hey you jerk you know nothing about soccer. Eats shoots and leaves dude! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoyleG Posted October 15, 2005 Share Posted October 15, 2005 Let's see the Six degrees of separation. quote:1) Call the team the Toronto Blizzard: Total no-brainer, this. In the aching, two-decade absense of top-flight soccer from this town, the Blizzard name has been embraced by almost every lonely, disenfranchised fan in this town. Yeah, maybe it was a dumb name at first, but it grew. Like the heavy winter storm it represents, it pretty much buried us all in a thick blanket of nostalgia and memory. We don't just want a team, we want our Blizzard. One more dumb, badly drawn animal-head logo will not be acceptable. Funny given that the definition of a Blizzard in Toronto is when you get more than a 1cm of snow on the ground. The Blizzard may be good name at it's time but that was, as you said, two decades ago. A group like MLSE isn't going to take the time to educate the soccer public about a name. If they want to get people involved with the team, they'll go to a naming contest in which the Blizzard name is certain to lose. quote:2) Hire Frank Yallop as head coach and general manager: Yeah, it's going to be hard on the Canadian World Cup team to lose such a special coach. But Yallop will do far more good for Canada as head man with the Blizzard, where he can mold and develop a new generation of Canadian soccer talent at a better, higher level. Whoever fills Yallop's shoes with the national team will have both an ally and a mentor in the pros. That's good for everyone. How is that good when having Yallop just so you can put him on an MLS team. The media would jump over such an act to frame the CSA as a nepotistic organization. You can't as well name a coach who would head the national team under this circumstance. You would basically make the Nats coach a subordinate of Yallop. No one would ever work under such a propsal. MLSE wouldn't go for that since National team matters would be, despite Peddie's public remarks, well back of the need to promote the team. They would rather bring an outsider in who will just deal with the club. quote:3) No running track in the stadium: You know, both York University and the U of T passed on this deal. If they want a running track to help their athletes get to the Olympics, let them build it, and let their football fans bring binoculars to look over the dratted thing. It's going to cost MLSE an estimated $20-million to top off the stadium and pay the MLS expansion fee. No way -- no way! -- can they expect their paying customers to put up with a running track after that. If they didn't want a track, they shouldn't have gone to city council to ask for the cash. Now that the fate of the stadium lies in the hands of city council, they can now attach demands that would make it more accessable to the sporting community. That means a grass field and a track. Ben seems to forget that Commonwealth has a track and people don't find it that bothersome. If MLSE doesn't want a track, they should cough up more cash or start having to accept that they would have to bring on more partners (ie. Athletics and Rugby) in order to have the city give them the funds. quote:4) Market this team directly to young players and their families: On any given day, Toronto is the single most multi-cultural town in all of human history. Ancient Rome? No. New York City? Forget about it! Toronto is filled with soccer fans, but almost all have long-standing old-country allegiances, and cannot be counted on to embrace the Blizzard. But thousands of kids play this game. And their parents have money to spend. Keep the prices reasonable, and target your advertising at the Soccer Mom sect. Old-country fans will wander in from time to time, but they're ultimately a bonus. If your going to that, they what on earth would you have an MLS team, let alone one run by MLSE. MLSE is going to run this team no different from how they run the Leafs and the Raptors. They will sell this as part of the Maple Leaf experience. They can't afford to sell to Soccer Mom's and young kids when they have to go head-to-head with both the Argos and the Jays. If you want to sell to Soccer Mom's and kids, buy the Lynx from the Hartrells (at the selling price and operational cost that's a fraction of MLS) and increase the budget of the squad. In that instance you would both play to Dad's and Boys (Though the Lynx) and to Mom's and Girls (Through the Lady Lynx). quote:5) Develop a strong youth system: Put Toronto Blizzard rep teams in every competitive youth league for fifty miles around. Build a classy, successful organization. Hire the best coaches. Make the Blizzard name really mean something. Also, buy a team in the USL's Professional Development League. Give the very best Southern Ontario prospects a team to play for, just before they're old enough to turn pro. Why would MLSE want to put their money into such a scheme when such organizations are already in place. No pro team in North American invests in such organizations. They leave it up to someone else to do the development. That would allow them to turn a profit, if their is any, on the MLS team itself. No organization would put so much money into useless overhead. quote:6) Win: The Toronto Blizzard won't pave the way to anything if they don't contend for championships right out of the game. They must seek to dominate MLS the way the Toronto Rock (five titles in seven seasons) have owned the National Lacrosse League. No, it won't be easy, but it must be the goal. To bring in the crowds, to develop players for the national team, to pave the way for further MLS expansion into Vancouver and Montreal, the new Toronto Blizzard must be one of the best pro teams on the continent from day one. Let's be realistic here, the stunning flop of Chivas USA on the field shows that any team that tries to work under restricted circumstances is going to suffer. While Paul James said on the score that MLS Toronto would be competing for the title is 3-5 years and winning it even them is quite a strech given what MLSE is going to have for a roster. The Rock work thanks to that the players on the Rock are the kind that people would relate themselves to. Policeman, Municipal Workers, Teachers, Businessmen etc. That is what drew the media to the Rock to begin with. Winning may help but it can't be sustained forever and that attachment to the community is what's going to keep people in the stands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbailey62 Posted October 16, 2005 Share Posted October 16, 2005 quote:Originally posted by john tv Hey you jerk you know nothing about soccer. John, you know better than that. You should be ashamed of yourself. db Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbailey62 Posted October 16, 2005 Share Posted October 16, 2005 quote:Originally posted by Ben Knight Here you go, folks! http://www.sportsnet.ca/soccer/columnist.jsp?content=20051013_122528_5660 Let's debate! Hi Ben, Another good article. db Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Posted October 16, 2005 Share Posted October 16, 2005 Ben, good article. A few comments: I'd like to see the Blizzard name back as well. I don't necessarily think Yallop should be the coach of the club. He's obviously a great MLS coach and MLSE would be foolish not to at least talk to him, but I don't think this is a requirement. I actually agree with Doyle on the running track. If other groups are throwing in money, they deserve a say on the stadium and it's facilities. Marketing to families and kids has never really been my favourite option. Sure they should be marketed to, but not exclusively or even primarily. Try to go after younger sports fans who watches World Cup or Euro but has no real allegiences to European clubs. There are a lot of people like this out there. I agree with the previous comments about the youth system. Identify and train kids with soccer camps, but don't steal them away from their existing clubs. Put together a U18 and PDL club and that's it. It's hard to argue about winning being important. Jason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanadianSoccerFan Posted October 16, 2005 Share Posted October 16, 2005 there's absolutely no point in building this thing if it's going to have a track. MLS would probably back out because track stadiums are exactly what they're trying to avoid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanadianSoccerFan Posted October 16, 2005 Share Posted October 16, 2005 there's absolutely no point in building this thing if it's going to have a track. MLS would probably back out because track stadiums are exactly what they're trying to avoid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Posted October 16, 2005 Share Posted October 16, 2005 Think about what you're saying: you'd rather have no new stadium in Toronto just because of a running track? I would prefer no running track, but come on. What that non-compromising view, you only get the status quo, which is not really that great for soccer in Toronto. Jason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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